Deb & Bob: R*E*S*P*E*C*T or An AP Photographer’s 1,000 Word Picture

This is one absolutely awesome picture by Nati Harnik of the Associated Press. I’ve gone back to it a number of times because it’s just one of those pics that captures something real. Something super sweet.

At the end of the day, candidates appreciate their opponents and this shot catches that moment where you can almost hear Deb Fischer say, “I see why people like this guy.”

And vice versa.

I love everything about this picture.

Fischer – being a Republican – and wearing red. Kerrey – being a Democrat – dressed in blue. The fact that Lee Terry – I’m pretty sure anyway – is connecting with someone in the background barely visible behind Kerrey’s back, unaware of the Senate connection going on. Another politician getting another vote at a parade.

Then there’s the tall Cornhusker in between them who caught the photographer capturing the moment and you can tell he understands how cool it is that he’s watching a little piece of history.

I love that Kerrey is holding an I-phone and sunglasses in his left hand (a lot’s going on there); that he’s not wearing a platinum Patek-Phillipe watch but one with a leather band. I love that Fischer seems to be really studying him.

I love that their handshake is so solid and that they held it for more than a nano-second so Mr. Harnik of the Associated Press – obviously a total genius – could record it.

Wait a minute. It just dawned on me why I’m suddenly so drawn to handshake pictures. It’s because of the Peggy – Don Draper good-bye in the Mad Men finale where at the end of a movie, they shake hands, and as she starts to let go, he holds on…and well, if you haven’t seen that scene, it’s worth buying last year’s entire Mad Men season just for that break-your-heart-handshake pas de deux.

Writers work with – and are awed by – the written word so often we sometimes forget this: it is pictures that bow even the stiffest neck.